Russia to cut imports of offshore equipment 50% by 2025
© RIA Novosti. Alexei Danichev

Russia to cut imports of offshore equipment 50% by 2025

The share of imported oil and gas drilling and production equipment for offshore projects will be cut from 85 percent to 50 percent by 2025. Deputy Industry and Trade Minister Vasily Osmakov said this in an interview with RIA Novosti before the international forum The Arctic: Territory of Dialogue.

"Under the state program on Arctic development, the share of imported equipment for Arctic projects will be reduced from 85 percent to 65 percent by 2020 and to 50 percent by 2025. This is a normal and balanced attitude to imports and domestic production," Osmakov said.

According to the deputy minister, the government is not only to oversee the production of quality offshore equipment at home but it is also to create a comprehensive oil and gas services sector.

US sanctions against the Russian fuel and energy sector include restrictions on the participation in and the provision of equipment for deepwater, Arctic offshore or shale projects. They also hinder the access by large Russian companies to foreign financing.